Bedford TV has launched a four-part reopening plan that incorporates a wide range of safety precautions and culminates when state officials declare an all-clear from the virus.
Meanwhile, the operation continues to have a virtual impact, particularly in supporting community causes.
“We will try our best. That’s how we’ve worked through this entire pandemic,” said Executive Director Katie Duval. “We are still making sure that we are doing our best for our volunteers and the town.”
The reopening plan is considered “best-case guidelines.” The formal reopening began on Oct. 20. Under the provisions, no more than two staff members at a time are allowed in the office at one time. Volunteers may borrow field equipment by making an appointment with the staff.
Phase two, targeted for Nov. 17, will open Bedford TV’s Old Town Hall facilities for volunteers by appointment only. Up to five people will be allowed into the facility at a time. Volunteers also will be able to make appointments for video editing on certain days.
The next landmark is Dec. 15, when Bedford TV will resume its regular hours of operation. However, no more than seven people will be allowed into the facility at a time. Also, the studio will be open for use by volunteers from noon to 6 pm. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
For Duval, who came to Bedford TV in August 2018, it’s a light at the end of a long tunnel. “The pandemic has made this year feel like five years,” she said. “At the beginning, on March 20, it was kind of like, ‘What do we do next?’”
At the time, she recalled, everyone assumed they’d be back in business in two weeks. “We just brought home what we thought we would need. I didn’t even bring my plants.”
Once reality set in, “The first thing we did was try to figure out how we could still serve our volunteers and the community.” The news program hadn’t missed a week since its inception, and Duval said she soon realized “we can do this on Zoom and send it over YouTube. “We spent all day making sure we all knew how to get on Zoom, how we were going to organize, who was going to direct it. It took about 12 hours but it came together.”:
“Once we figured out how to do that, we decided we can continue,” she related. “We started to bring guests almost every week to talk about what they were doing of service during the pandemic.”
The staff and volunteers started to help with video fundraising events, beginning with last spring’s “Feed the Soul” effort to buy from local restaurants and deliver it to health care workers all over the region. Another one is coming up on Dec, 1 to benefit the Bedford Food Pantry. “If you want to perform start recording your videos now,” said Duval.
There have been other positives. “Before we were only recording three government bodies, and now we record all of them,” Duval said. Of course, that’s thanks to the Zoom platform. “When we are back in person, we might need to change. Now it’s just laptops and YouTube.”
“Some newer shows came out of the woodwork, such as the one by local dentist Diane Bridgeman, “It’s Time to Smile,” Duval continued. “And we started recording sports. The sad thing is that we had a lot fewer volunteers producing shows. Maybe many were not comfortable doing a show over Zoom.”
“We are altering which tasks we do and the nature by which we do it,” Duval stated. “We are here to serve and help the community. If we see a gap somewhere we can do it, even if it means pushing some things aside on our end.”
The reopening plan also includes a response plan, to be activated if a staff member or visitor to the studio or offices has “an assumed or confirmed” case of Covid-19. “The Bedford TV facilities will be closed immediately and will be professionally cleaned and sanitized by the Facilities Department. They will use an atomizer machine to sanitize the entire building” before reopening.
This part of the plan also includes several processes that have become standard for preventing the spread of the virus, including hygiene training, touchpoint disinfection, maintaining cleaning supplies, sanitizing writing implements, employee check-in, proper ventilation, and contact tracing.
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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